unsync impossible

[polas 2]

Hi,

It turns out that I was still using v4 on my desktop (I have been evernote user for like forever) and I updated it to the latest v10. It bombarded me with popups to pay for it and then complained about too many devices being connected. It allowed me to disconnect some old phones that I no longer even have and then locked me out because I can only disconnect two devices a month. I don't even know how many devices I have connected or what they are. So disappointed to see where we ended up with this app. I get it - you need subscriptions. But with this business model Im pretty sure you are losing the customer base. Am I going to wait a month to see if I can disconnect more devices just to discover that maybe I have a few more old phones there in the list and I need to wait another month? No thank you. Am I going to pay over $100 on special for a note taking app? And no way to contact you to resolve the issue just a public forum? Sad reality of 2024 😞

[gazumped 12,057]

No clue when v4 was current,  but I'd say you had the best of the bargain with up to 10 years free use of Evernote's services.  It's not possible to get 'around' the device limit restrictions,  but you could consider subscribing - even if only for a month - to get back to your notes immediately.  As a new subscriber you will probably see some discounts from the standard cost.

[AlbertR 704]

7 hours ago, gazumped said:

... you could consider subscribing...

And how should this be done if he cannot log in?
 

[PinkElephant 8,785]

He can log in to the account information on the web - he probably can't go to his notes.

Our usual advise is to subscribe BEFORE starting to sort out the situation. Too late here, already fell into the ditch.

@polas Beside this I am fed up by the complains of users who took the service for granted for years, now get confronted with reality and know nothing better than complain. The water is too hot, the water is too cold, and surprise the water is wet.

It was us paying users who footed the bill year by year. I have no mercy when now things start to swim upriver: Subscribe, sort things out and if you are still turning each dime three times to see if it looks more valuable from the other side, leave. You either know why you pay the asked price, or you don't. If you don't know what the value is after years of free use, you will never know, and should exit.

At least you are not welcome any longer to continue as a freeloader.

[gazumped 12,057]

4 hours ago, AlbertR said:

And how should this be done if he cannot log in?

Did I misread the post?  It seemed like the main problem was the device limit;  subscribing not only gets around that but also gets access to support... eventually... 

[polas 2]

@PinkElephantwow. I didn't expect such a rude answer. 

Evernote was FREE. this is how it was advertised for years. The app I was using never prompted me to update it, so for some reason I was still on the very old one. Not my choice really. So calling me a freeloader for using a free service is a bit of a stretch. Maybe you are new to evernote and do not know the history? I started using it 15+ years ago. At that time we used to have a lot of free services online. Evernote wasn't an exception. 

After updating it to the latest one I only see greed in the popups. And the pricing is mental. if it was $5 a month I wouldn't bother writing but just go with the subscription. $18 per month!! this is what Adobe is charging for using their apps...

@AlbertR I managed to log in to the web and there it seems there are no limits on how many devices can be disconnected and I was able to disconnect everything.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

23 hours ago, polas said:

Evernote was FREE. this is how it was advertised for years. The app I was using never prompted me to update it, so for some reason I was still on the very old one. Not my choice really. So calling me a freeloader for using a free service is a bit of a stretch. Maybe you are new to evernote and do not know the history? I started using it 15+ years ago. At that time we used to have a lot of free services online. Evernote wasn't an exception. 

After updating it to the latest one I only see greed in the popups. And the pricing is mental. if it was $5 a month I wouldn't bother writing but just go with the subscription. $18 per month!! this is what Adobe is charging for using their apps...

Slight correction: it was advertised for years as having several options: free, and some relatively modestly priced paid subscriptions. You and many others chose to keep using it free for years, if not decades, to create valuable material. Evernote had the idea during that time that people who found it valuable would recognize the value and voluntarily start paying. Many of us did. Some did not, and we who paid to support their free use can find it a trifle annoying when they show up complaining that the free lunch is over and referring to themselves as customers, which by definition they are not.

TBH, the new much higher prices probably assume that people who use Evernote for serious purposes will be willing to pay a serious price, and those who used it for trivial more mundane purposes will find other apps/services which will still do that for free. People who want to make serious use for cheap prices are left a little out in the cold; but TBH again, if they'd been willing to pay even a cheap price they could have started years ago.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

@polas and all the other complaining Free is history:

Every subscriber (no matter if rebated or paying full prices) carried at least (!) 10 Free users. We don’t know, this is what was told, but likely the relation was even worse.

This means as well that the conversion rate must have been dreadfully low. If only one out of 10 Free users would have subscribed in a year, the paid accounts would have doubled.

Why the old management decided to leave the Free plan practically unchanged, and preferred to sink the whole company instead escapes me. Wishful thinking at it’s worst.

That‘s why every subscriber has any justification to feel exploited - directly by EN, in second line by all Free users.

And now I ask you directly: Why should I continue to finance YOUR free ride any longer ? Not in general, YOU in person: Give me a reason to open my purse for you !

[polas 2]

I didn't create this business model. 20 years ago i started to use a free service very casually. I have very limited notes there and to be honest I keep most of my "Serious" stuff on google in the docs and keep (guess what - it is free). Evernote servers a small purpose of taking notes, which we can do in many other ways for free. As I said I would be ok to pay $5 a month for my limited use (which I actually did as I got a discount). As far as paid options are concerned there are again a lot of really good and much cheaper alternatives.

Anyway, attacking me for being a free user of a service that has a free option seems a bit odd.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

50 minutes ago, polas said:

Evernote servers a small purpose of taking notes, which we can do in many other ways for free. As I said I would be ok to pay $5 a month for my limited use (which I actually did as I got a discount).

Just WRT to this, it's what I meant about people making a lower level use of Evernote preferring to migrate elsewhere. (Where they will still not be part of a "customer base.") Evernote can do so much more than casual note-taking that it's reasonable (not the only reasonable option, but reasonable) for its new owners to focus on the customers who want to use its more high-end functions. Personally, I agree that they could make a low-cost, low-feature subscription available and retain some former free users. But first they need to get their finances sorted, and they need to let the message that free use is now only for trial purposes, not long-term, sink in. Then maybe a lower tier will happen; but it's all just speculation.

[polas 2]

@Dave-in-Decaturtotally agree with you. I need a plan that is between free and the lowest available just to continue using the service. Otherwise sadly after 2 decades I will have to move elsewhere. For now I have a year to keep going as the discount I was offered lowered the price to a reasonable. The forum still shows that I'm on a free subscription though, which is not correct. 

What I find a bit grating is that the terms and conditions were changed on me. 20 years ago there was an agreement between evernote and I and I was offered certain features for free with an option to get more, if I wanted and pay for them. Now those features were taken away. I understand that the company need to pay for servers and stuff to keep going. But they should offer an option to the old, long time customers that makes sense and is fair.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

20 years ago ...

There never was an agreement between you and EN, even back then. You can only agree on something you can negotiate. This was never a negotiation. They offered terms of service back then, you decided to accept them. If on a payment basis, these terms were fixed for the subscription period. If on Free, they were open for a change at any moment. You never agreed in an eye level negotiation - you accepted something that was available to be accepted.

And so it went, year by year: They offered terms of service, you picked one and accepted to continue using the service based on that offer.

Now you find out the terms are not to your liking: The Free was changed in a way you don't like - little wonder since it is now a trial setup, and you are beyond trying. And the subscriptions got more expensive. Oh yes, the good old days where milk and honey flowed for a nickel and a dime (or beer and whiskey, whatever you prefer).

But it is still the old way of doing things: The define terms of use, you decide to accept or not. If not, you can only skip the use. Either you let your account drop to Free, and have no more chance to add content (just read and edit existing one). Or you export your data and move on.

Believe me: If you joined eons ago, or shortly doesn't make any difference for what you need to decide for the next future. You can get romantic about it, but for your continued use it doesn't matter.

[gazumped 12,057]

Tired of these discussions now.  There are currently 3 levels of Evernote subscription - Personal / Professional / Teams. 

The only choice any of us has is to either pick an acceptable level,  or find an alternative provider.  At Evernote's discretion there are some incentive discounts around for both new and existing customers.

It's clear many potential and former users would like more or different features,  and cheaper prices;  but while that may be in the future I prefer to deal with current reality.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

6 hours ago, polas said:

But they should offer an option to the old, long time customers that makes sense and is fair.

But just that is the point: a free user, however long-standing, was never a "customer" (which Merriam-Webster defines as "one that purchases a commodity or service"), only a user of the service. There were options to subscribe at much lower rates than at present that were available for many years, and many or most free users chose not to take them--which leads me to conclude that free users were never going to pay, period. Not meaning this personally, of course, but the forums are filled with assertions that "If only they would ______________, I would pay," but few or none saying that "They did ______________, and I paid."